White House report cites Katrina failures

updated 7:40 p.m. ET Feb. 23, 2006

WASHINGTON - The White House cited failures by the Homeland Security Department and other agencies in planning, communications and leadership in a report on Hurricane Katrina Thursday and proposed a broad reworking of how the government would respond to the next catastrophe.

The 228-page report by White House homeland security adviser Frances Fragos Townsend urges changes in 11 key areas — mainly in better disaster relief coordination among federal agencies — before the next hurricane season begins June 1.

The White House study took a softer approach than a scathing House report issued last week, focusing on proposals to fix problems without singling out any individuals for blame.

“We will learn from the lessons of the past to better protect the American people,” President Bush said Thursday at the end of a Cabinet meeting where the report was released.

“I wasn’t satisfied with the federal response,” Bush said.

Townsend, speaking to reporters later, said the White House itself fell short in cutting through bureaucratic red tape and quickly settling disputes among response agencies.

Her review also cites failures at a half-dozen federal agencies, singling out the Homeland Security Department for lacking fast communication with emergency responders and the public, and an inadequate system for stockpiling supplies before a disaster hits.

“In the end, we must do a much better job at preparation, at planning, and improve our response,” Townsend said.

125 recommendations
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff commended the White House’s 125 recommendations, which he said were aided by his department.

“We have already begun to take action to address many of the issues raised in the report, particularly those areas we need to improve before the start of the 2006 hurricane season,” Chertoff said in a statement. He called the report consistent with internal changes already underway at Homeland Security.

Bush ordered the review days after the Aug. 29 storm revealed widespread federal disaster response gaps. More than 1,300 Gulf Coast residents died after Katrina hit, and hundreds of thousands more were forced from their destroyed homes.

The White House review comes a week after the special Republican-dominated House committee investigating the slow response found fault at every level of government — including the president and Chertoff.

Sen. Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut, the top Democrat on a Senate panel separately investigating failures during Katrina, described the White House report as “thoughtful” but criticized it for not assigning enough blame for the problems.

“Only a full understanding of what went wrong and who was responsible will enable us to correct our path for the future,” Lieberman said in a statement.

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